When his parents returned from their respective vacations, it took them less than a day to determine the nervous behaviour their son was portraying. It was worrying to Misaki, but Akihiko just passed it off as teenage awkward nature. His mind was elsewhere at the moment anyways. Daichi, on the other hand, was doing his best to act as natural as possible, trying desperately to slow his heart down every time his parents checked his room. But after a few incidents, Daichi realised that his parents might not know or understand the weight of the single plant in his room, or that, perhaps, they could not tell the difference between the growing vines and stalks that now cluttered his abode.
But as the weeks wore on, the temperature continued to climb to unimaginable heights, and Katsuo began to bring more and more of the same plant over to the penthouse. Each had the same problem; they were dying in this blasted, sweltering heat that had engulfed the Japanese isles. The news stations called it the hottest summer in the history of Japan, and Daichi could do nothing but agree. His body continued to consume large amounts of fluids, trying to keep himself from dehydration. He did his best to tend to his plants, getting them sunlight and nutrients, but when he stepped outside, the plants shrivelled under the sun, and so would he, to a degree.
Misaki fussed over his son, applying sunscreen and packing him extra water when Daichi went out. He would notice how his parents would stare at each other, thinking the other wasn't realising, and he assumed it was the absence that had caused this sudden resurrection of love and passion. The looks they gave were enough to send shivers of unease down his spine and caused him to flee the penthouse in order to give his parents enough space.
School dragged on through this heat, and the devilish days wore the teenagers down, taunting each child with the break that was sure to come, in a month, in a week. They were all counting down the days while the heat blazed within the school building. July was coming, but it still was not there, and until it came, there would be no break from the homework, quizzes, and tests in each dreaded class. When the last day, last hour, last minute of school came, the feeling of relief swept through the building like a wildfire, and teachers and students alike, filed out as quickly as they could.
But when Daichi stepped outside into the sun, the object that had given him so much energy and hope, the heat from it radiated around him, burning his skin. It pulled sweat from his body, drawing up conjurations in his mind of deserts and droughts. He could hear screams, cries, gasps, but was too lost. The concrete burned and bruised his cheek as he fell upon it, too tired and exhausted to carry himself any further.
People swarmed around him, all staring in shock, for only minutes before, he had been as giddy as everyone else, and now he was slumped over on the ground. Distantly, he could feel arms wrap around him, pulling him to his feet, someone was shouting, but the lands of sand and lack of water were fading, darkness surrounding his body slowly.
He awoke to the smell of disinfectant and a bright glare that threatened to burn his irises a golden hue. When the first moments of dislocation began to wear on his mind, he sat up, feeling his head float around in thought. Everything in the room looked so white, so pure, and he tried to steady his head with a hand. Next to him, someone spoke, and his body was pushed back to the bed with a foreign hand as the person called for a nurse. Daichi couldn't see anything past a blur now, and he still felt the sensation of dizziness and drought.
"Water," he called, tiredly, turning to face the person who sat next to him. He squinted, clearing his throat. Who was this person next to him? They were a blur, but he could still pick out some key aspects: the tan skin, blue-dyed hair. He.. He didn't know anyone with blue hair.. did he?
He heard the person laugh softly and then they helped him sit up, putting the edge of a glass cup to his lip. Slowly, they quenched his undesirable thirst with cool water. His vision reappeared, and he held himself up, looking toward the unidentifiable person next to him. The blur was gone, and now he could the teenage girl with a clear eye. Yes, the girl had tan skin, her black hair was tinted electric blue with highlights, and her lips and eyelids were painted black with makeup. She held her hand out, giving him a disinterested look. "The name's Yuki." He shook her hand, then separating with a slight nervousness. Her dark eyes were boring right into him, as if passing out from the heat wasn't embarrassing enough.
"Your friends should be back soon, so I'll leave." She got up to exit, and Daichi couldn't find the words to stop her. She left quickly, not willing to spend the time of day on one of his friends. But as she was leaving, she ran into him, her ex-boyfriend. "Katsuo," She said venomously, glaring at him while he smiled back, greeting her with a grin.
"Yuki, my dear, how are you?" He asked, grasping her hand in his, but she pulled away with a growl.
"Don't touch me in such a way." And she turned stomping down the hall in her converse. She could feel Katsuo's eyes on her back, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Instead, as she turned the corner, she ran head first into her father. He smiled down at her, blue eyes taking in her distressed form.
"Yuki, you might want to hurry." He said calmly, watching his daughter breath slowly, trying to quell her anger. "Your internship shift starts soon." She nodding, continuing past him toward the break room to retrieve her scrubs.
Her father walked to the room he was assigned, introducing himself to the silver-haired boy.
"Hello, I'm Kusama Nowaki, and I will be your doctor for today." He flipped through some papers, locating the boys files. He read the name and inwardly grimaced. After almost twenty years, his jealousy for Usami had not even begun to wane, only intensified with Hiroki still constantly buying his books. He brushed it off, smiling at the patient. "It seems you have been dehydrated for sometime now. I would suggest staying out of the sun and make sure to stay sitting. Also, you should continuously drink water throughout the day." He nodded slightly, looking through the papers for any other abnormalities in the boy's documents. Seeing none, he dismissed himself to tend to other patients. Nowaki sighed and deposited the files on the secretary's desk just as Daichi's parents, the writer and the economist, arrived on the third floor intensive care. "He's down the left hall, seventh door on the right." He sighed again, glaring at the pair as he sat in one of the empty seats. After almost twenty years.. This was crazy.
A/N: wow, fail new character introduction... Yay, readers~ you finally get to meet one of the egoist children, if just for a couple paragraphs! This chapter wasn't as good, but the point of it was to introduce egoist, because I missed them... too bad I didn't include Hiroki in this chapter, that would've been.. interesting.. also, for anyone who cares, there is a link on my profile to concept art I drew of the crew, including the other egoist child, so pls check it out!